This is a list of essential acronyms and other abbreviations for people studying Business English. There are also similar lists of general English elsewhere on this site.
- a/c – account
- ad – advertisement
- advert – advertisement
- AGM – annual general meeting (= shareholders’ meeting)
- AOB – any other business (= anything else that needs to be discussed)
- approx. – approximately (= around/ about/ more or less)
- APR – annual percentage rate (interest, for example of a credit card)
- asap/ ASAP – as soon as possible
- ATB – All the best (closing greeting of an email)
- attn. – attention/ for the attention of
- B2B – business to business
- B/L – bill of lading
- BCC – blind carbon copy
- BoD – board of directors
- BoE – Bank of England
- BR – Best regards
- BW – Best wishes (informal closing greeting of an email)
- CC – carbon copy (meaning copying someone in when you send an email)
- CEO – chief executive officer
- CFO – chief financial officer
- CIF – cost, insurance and freight
- CIO – chief investment officer/ chief information officer
- Co./ (and) Co. – (and) Company
- c/o – care of
- CoD – cash on delivery
- COO – chief operating officer
- co-op – cooperative
- Corp. – Corporation
- CPA – certified public accountant
- CPI – consumer price index (an inflation figure)
- CRM – customer relationship management
- CSR – corporate social responsibility
- CTO – chief technology officer
- CV – curriculum vitae (= résumé)
- demo – (political/ product) demonstration
- dept. – department (written abbreviation)
- DTI – Department of Trade and Industry
- EBITDA – earning before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization
- enc. – enclosed (like “attached” but meaning inside an envelope)
- ETA – estimated time of arrival (also used for information, etc)
- EU – European Union
- exec(s) – executive(s)
- expo – exposition
- F/T – full time
- FAO – for the attention of
- FAQ – frequently asked question(s)
- FCA – Financial Conduct Authority
- fig.– figure, as in “figure 1”
- fin tech – financial technology
- forex/ FX – foreign exchange
- FSA – Financial Services Authority
- FT – Financial Times
- FTA – free trade agreement
- FTSE – Financial Times Stock Exchange (index)
- FY – financial year (as in FY2018)
- fwd/ FWD – forward/ forwarded (meaning “send on/ sent on”)
- FYI – (just) for your information
- GBP – (Great British) pounds
- GDP – gross domestic product
- GM – general manager/ General Motors
- GMT – Greenwich Mean Time
- GNP – gross national product
- GST – goods and services tax
- HM Treasury – Her Majesty’s Treasury/ His Majesty’s Treasury (the finance ministry of the UK)
- HMRC – Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs/ His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs
- HP – hire purchase
- HQ – headquarters (= head office) (not “headquarter” X)
- HR (department) – human resources (department) (= personnel department) (not “human resource” X)
- Inc./ inc. – Incorporated/ including…
- info – information
- IoT – the internet of things
- IOU – I owe you
- IP – intellectual property
- IPO – initial public offering
- IRS – Internal Revenue Service
- ISA – Individual Savings Account
- ISP – internet service provider
- KPI – key performance indicators
- LIBOR – London Interbank Offered Rate
- LNG – liquid natural gas
- LSE – London School of Economics and Political Science/ London Stock Exchange
- Ltd – limited (company/ liability company)
- M&A – mergers and acquisition
- m/ M – million (as in $15m)
- max – maximum
- MBA – Master of Business Administration
- MD – managing director
- memo – memorandum (meaning an internal document, usually a group email and usually telling or reminding people what to do – the longer expression is rarely used with this meaning)
- MENA – Middle East and North Africa
- mil – millimetres/ million
- min – minimum (= at least)/ minute(s) (written abbreviation)
- mod cons – modern conveniences
- N/A – not applicable
- NAFTA – North American Free Trade Association
- NB – From Latin “nota bene” meaning “note well” (= “Please note that…”)
- NI – Northern Ireland (written abbreviation)/ national insurance (number)
- NSFW – not safe for work
- NYSE – New York Stock Exchange
- O/T – overtime (written abbreviation)
- OA – office automation
- Ofcom – Office of Communications (the UK regulator for TV etc)
- P/E (ratio) – price to earnings ratio
- P&L – profit and loss (accounts)
- p.p. – on behalf of (used at the bottom of letters and emails when someone, e.g. an assistant, writes something for someone else)
- p&p – postage and packing
- P/T – part time
- PA – per annum (= per year)/ public address (system)/ personal assistant
- PAYE – pay as you earn
- PIN (number) – personal identification number
- PLC – public limited company
- PO box (no) – post office box (number)
- (if) poss. – (if) possible
- PR – public relations
- PS – post scriptum (from Latin, used for extra information after the end of an email, similar to “btw”)
- PTO – please turn over (the page for more information/ for comments)
- Q&A (session) – question and answer (session, usually meaning the final part of a presentation)
- Q1/ Q2/ Q3/ Q4 – first quarter/ second quarter/ third quarter/ fourth quarter
- QE – quantitative easing (an economic policy used after the 2007 recession)
- R&D (research and development)
- re: – regarding (meaning “concerning”, “about” and so not only used to mean “reply”)
- (my/ our/ your) ref – (my/ our/ your) reference
- REIT – real estate investment trust
- RFID – radio frequency identification (device)
- ROE – return on equity
- ROI/ RoI – return on investment
- RRP – recommended retail price
- rules and regs – rules and regulations
- sales rep – sales representative (= salesman/ sales executive)
- SEC – Securities and Exchange Commission
- SEO – search engine optimization
- SFO – the Serious Fraud Office
- SME – small and medium(-sized) enterprise
- specs – specifications
- SWOT (analysis) – strengths weaknesses opportunities (and) threats
- TBA/ TBC/ TBD – to be announced/ to be arranged/ to be announced/ to be confirmed/ to be decided/ to be determined
- tech – technology
- telecoms – telecommunications
- teleconference – telephone conference
- temp – temporary (staff/ worker)
- thnx/ thx – thanks
- TM – trademark
- TQM – total quality management
- union – trade union/ labor union
- USD – US dollars
- USP – (unique) selling points
- VAS – value added services
- VAT – value added tax (a kind of sales tax/ consumption tax)
- VP – vice president
- w/o – without
- YTD – year to date
Now you've learned the 150 most useful Business English abbreviations you might also be interested in our lists of vital business meetings, telephoning language and emailing language - essential phrases for business communication: